A Soulful Boy in the Soulful City: Part One

“Educate
a youth according to his
way; even when he grows old,
he will not depart from it.”
(Proverbs 22:6)

Dear
Friends,

In this
letter, I will begin to tell
you the special story of
Shmuel Aharon Yudelevitch, a
spiritually-sensitive and
gifted boy who grew up
during the early 20th
century. His parents, Reb
Shabsai and Shaina Miriam,
had established a home in
Kerem, one of the new
neighborhoods of Jerusalem,
and their home was devoted
to Torah and Torah-inspired
acts of chesed
(loving-kindness). Their
acts of chesed
included hospitality; thus,
their table was always
crowded with guests, many of
them elderly Jews who had
left their homes in Europe
and elsewhere to spend their
final years studying Torah
in Jerusalem. One of their
regular guests was Reb
Shmuel, who ate a daily meal
in their home. He was a
quiet man, and his spiritual
devotion led Reb Shabsai and
Shaina Miriam to feel that
he was a hidden tzaddik,
perhaps one of the
thirty-six hidden
tzaddikim whose
righteousness upholds the
entire world.

Before
Shmuel Aharon was born, his
parents had two children who
died when they were infants,
and the couple began to
despair about their future.
Their daily guest, Reb
Shmuel, became aware of
their despair, and he gave
them hope with the following
message:

“I
promise you that you will
have a son. And this son
will live a long and healthy
life, and will become a
great gaon (genius in
Torah), a tzaddik,
and a holy man. He will
illuminate the world with
his words of Torah.”

Reb
Shmuel passed away soon
after his promise. Less than
a year later, Shaina Miriam
gave birth to a son, and he
was given the name, “Shmuel
Aharon.” Two years later,
Shaina Miriam gave birth to
a girl, and her parents
named her, “Basya.”

As a
young boy, Shmuel Aharon
already had a special aura
about him. He had an
aristocratic delicacy
combined with an emotional
sensitivity that was rare in
a young child. On one
occasion, Reb Shabsai had a
heart-to-heart talk with his
son. Reb Shabsai encouraged
Shmuel Aharon to use his
time wisely and fulfill his
potential – “to become a
true man.” And he added:

“My
beloved son, before you were
born, I was promised that
you would become a true
servant of Hashem. I am
certain that you have all
the abilities to become a
great Torah scholar – but
still, we must remember that
Esav (Yaakov’s wicked
brother) was also blessed
with superior talents. And
we know what happened to
him. You must therefore make
sure that, as you grow
older, you continue to
direct your talents towards
spiritual goals.”

During
World War One, Turkish
officials in Jerusalem
arrested and imprisoned Jews
who had citizenship rights
in the allied countries that
Turkey and Germany were
fighting. Among those
imprisoned was Reb Shabsai.
He and other prisoners were
brutally beaten; moreover,
they were exiled to Syria,
with most of them being
forced to walk the entire
journey in their weakened
state. At the end of 1917,
Reb Shabsai died in Syria.
Shmuel Aharon was then
eleven years old.

The
poverty-stricken Shaina
Miriam continued to help
others who had less than she
did. She later met a kind
and wealthy man who became
her second husband: Reb
Yosef Buchbinder. Originally
from the northern city of
Tsfas, he was a widower who
made his home in Kfar Tavor,
a small agricultural village
in the Upper Galilee. Reb
Yosef had many relatives in
Jerusalem, and on one of his
visits there a relative
suggested that he meet
Shaina Miriam. Her sterling
qualities won him over
almost immediately, and he
was willing to become a
devoted “father” to her two
children. It was not easy
for Shaina Miriam to enter a
marriage which would cause
her to leave Jerusalem, the
place where she grew up and
where she had relatives, but
she decided to marry this
kind man who would support
her and her children.

When she
told Shmuel Aharon about her
decision and that they would
be moving to Kfar Tavor, he
hugged his mother tightly
and whispered in her ear, “I
am so happy for you.” Shaina
Miriam slowly extricated
herself from Shmuel Aharon’s
arms. Looking straight into
his eyes, she slowly told
him: “It will be good for
all of us, my son. Not just
for me. We will all be happy
there in our new home, and
we will have plenty to eat.”
To her shock, he then told
his mother that he wished to
remain in Jerusalem, where
he could best advance in his
Torah studies. He said that
he could sleep in the
Jerusalem home of Grandma
Chaya. He also promised that
he would visit his mother
and sister during school
vacations, which included
the Festival of Succos. When
his mother protested and
indicated that he was
abandoning her, he held his
mother’s hand tightly in his
own, and he said:

“No Mama,
I am not abandoning you, not
at all. I am just doing what
Tattie (Daddy) would
have wanted me to do. He
once told me that before
King David passed away, he
told his son Shlomo, ‘I am
going the way of all
mankind, and you should
remain strong and be a man’
(1 Kings 2:2). If I join
you, Mama, in Kfar Tavor, I
will become a farmer and not
fulfill my potential. I will
never become a talmid
chacham. (The term
talmid chacham –
disciple of the wise –
refers to someone who
becomes a Torah scholar
through becoming a disciple
of those who are great in
Torah wisdom.)

Shaina
Miriam was always proud of
her son’s loving devotion to
Torah study. She hugged him
tightly and said: “If that
is your reason for staying
my son, then you have my
blessings. Learn Torah, grow
in Torah, and become
everything that you can be
for the sake of the Torah.”

Shmuel
Aharon remained in
Jerusalem, and he later
began to sleep in the home
of his friend, Aharon
Levine. The people of his
neighborhood were kind to
him, and the Rav of the
neighborhood took a personal
interest in his welfare. In
addition, his cheder
(elementary Torah school)
was one place where he
always felt at home. The
children in his cheder
had become his second
family, and the melamed
(teacher) was a father
figure for him to emulate.
Shmuel Aharon was an
excellent pupil who reviewed
his studies constantly, and
it was in the cheder
that his talents were really
able to shine.

He felt a
need for a change, however,
one morning, less than a
year before his bar-mitzvah.
Shmuel Aharon’s rebbe must
have been upset for some
reason, for he walked into
class that morning and
sternly warned the children,
“You had better be careful
today. Anyone who misbehaves
will be severely punished.”

Shmuel
Aharon could not understand
how the rebbe could say such
a thing. He thought to
himself: If a pupil disturbs
the class, then of course
the rebbe has a right to
threaten punishment. But to
threaten punishment because
the rebbe himself is in a
bad mood…it just did not
seem fair. In fact, several
years before, Shmuel Aharon
had been unfairly treated by
one of his rebbes, when he
was falsely and publicly
accused of stealing a
miniature Mishkan
(Tabernacle) which the rebbe
had built for the class;
moreover, when the real
culprit confessed, the rebbe
never even apologized to
Shmuel Aharon. Although this
incident left a deep
impression, this
spiritually-sensitive boy
did not become bitter or
complain; however, now that
his current rebbe came into
the class in an angry mood,
his mind was flooded with
the memory of that painful
episode.

That
morning, Shmuel Aharon came
to a decision. During
recess, he left his
cheder, which was
located in the Old City, and
he walked to the Etz Chaim
cheder which was
located in the Machaneh
Yehudah neighborhood in the
New City. As he entered the
lobby, he was greeted with a
warm Shalom Aleichem
by the spiritual director of
the cheder, Reb Aryeh
Levin.

Reb Aryeh
asked him: “With whom do I
have the honor of speaking?”

Shmuel
did not understand that Reb
Aryeh was addressing him, as
he had never been spoken to
in such a manner before.
“Excuse me?” was all he
could say.

Reb Aryeh
gently held Shmuel Aharon’s
hand in his own. “With whom
do I have the honor?” he
again asked with a smile,
his eyes sparkling. “I am
privileged to meet you and I
would be happy to know your
name.”

Reb Aryeh
said: “Really! Your
grandfather was an unusual
person. I have heard amazing
stories about him. I was
told that when he was only a
young boy he walked from
Ponovezh, in Lithuania, all
the way to Romania, to the
Black Sea, and hid in a ship
coming to Eretz Yisrael.
I also heard that he was a
tremendous baal chesed
(master of loving-kindness),
and that he suffered greatly
in his lifetime.”

Reb Aryeh
then asked Shmuel Aharon
about his father, and the
boy said: “My father was Reb
Shabsai, of blessed memory.”

Reb Aryeh
replied: “Will his honor
please forgive me? I didn’t
mean to say anything that
would cause his honor pain.
Come, perhaps his honor
would be willing to join me
in my room, where we can
continue our discussion
without being disturbed.”

In Reb
Aryeh’s small office, Shmuel
Aharon started to talk. He
had no idea to whom he was
speaking, or what position
this man held in the Etz
Chaim cheder, but he
did know that this warm and
loving person was carefully
listening to every word that
he said.

The words
poured out of the sensitive
boy in a torrent of emotion.
He told Reb Aryeh about the
suffering of his family, his
mother’s remarriage, and his
current challenges living
without parents. He cried as
he related the story of how
he had once been suspected
of stealing the miniature
Mishkan, and his tears
flowed on as he described
how his current rebbe had
warned the class that they
were in danger of receiving
a severe punishment. Reb
Aryeh listened with empathy
and understanding, and his
eyes radiated warmth and
love. “And now,” asked Reb
Aryeh, “What can I do for
his honor?”

“I came
here to ask,” said Shmuel
Aharon, who finally
understood whose honor Reb
Aryeh was referring to, “if
it would be possible for me
to continue my studies in
the Etz Chaim cheder.”

Reb Aryeh
asked him his age, and
Shmuel Aharon told him that
he was twelve years old. Reb
Aryeh said: “So in less than
a year his honor will be
having a bar mitzvah.
Wonderful! I will have to
check into the matter, and I
hope that by tomorrow I will
be able to answer his honor.
Will his honor be able to
come to the cheder
again tomorrow, before
classes begin?

“I will
be here,” answered Shmuel
Aharon. “And whom should I
ask for if I don’t see you
when I come?”

Reb Aryeh
replied: “Ask for Aryeh
Levin. Here I am called the
menahel ruchani
(spiritual director). But
don’t worry, hopefully you
will find me here, and you
won’t have to go looking for
me. And now, my dear child,
I have one important
question to ask his honor:
Where is his honor’s lunch
bag?”

Reb Aryeh
understood from Shmuel
Aharon’s expression that he
had not brought a lunch with
him. Reb Aryeh then said:

“And so,
my dear child, I would like
to ask his honor to do me a
favor and join me at home
for the midday meal. I see
that his honor would like to
remind me that it is still a
full hour until lunch time.
I am aware of that. Let us
take advantage of this hour
to learn gemara (the
text of the Talmud). Which
gemara is his honor
studying in cheder?”

The next
hour flew by. Shmuel Aharon
did not feel as though Reb
Aryeh was testing him; he
felt as though they were
talking to each other as one
talmid chacham
speaking to another.

After the
study session, Reb Aryeh
took him to his small
apartment in the Mishkenot
neighborhood. “Good
afternoon,” called out Reb
Aryeh as he opened the front
door. “Channah, come and
meet the special guest I
have brought home with me
today, a very important
guest. A real pearl.”

Reb Aryeh
then said to Shmuel Aharon,
“Meet my son Chaim Yaakov,”
motioning towards a boy that
seemed to be the same age as
Shmuel Aharon.

Reb Aryeh
said to his son: “And Chaim
Yaakov, I would like you to
meet Shmuel Aharon
Yudelevitch, a brilliant
talmid chacham. I had
the pleasure of studying
with him today.”

In later
years, when both boys grew
up and became noted Torah
scholars, Rav Chaim Yaakov
Levin recalled:

“I will
never forget the first time
that I met Rav Shmuel
Aharon. We often had guests
in our home – of all kinds
and all ages. Yet when we
saw how careful this young
boy of twelve was to wash
his hands properly, with
loving attention to the
halacha, and how he said
the blessing slowly and with
devotion, we were absolutely
amazed. After he left, my
mother turned to my father
and said, “What can I tell
you? You were absolutely
right. We have never had
such an important guest
before.’ ”

The next
morning, Shmuel Aharon came
to the Ertz Chaim cheder
an hour early, and Reb Aryeh
was already there. “I’ve
been waiting for you,” said
Reb Aryeh, as he warmly
extended his hand. “I hope
you don’t mind that I am
speaking to you in the
second person rather than in
the third. I feel that we
are now friends, and friends
speak to each other like
this. Am I correct?”

Shmuel
Aharon fought back a rush of
tears. He was deeply moved
by the very kind and very
considerate way in which Reb
Aryeh spoke to him.

Shmuel
Aharon became a successful
student at the Etz Chaim
cheder, and he gained
new joy in his Torah study,
as this school placed a
great emphasis on in-depth
Torah study which inspired
the students to ask
questions. Shmuel Aharon
amazed his teachers with
such deep and perceptive
questions that they
themselves were often unable
to answer. In the meanwhile,
he continued to eat lunch,
the main meal of the day, at
the home of Reb Aryeh and
Rebbetzen Channah. It was
there that he basked in the
warm family atmosphere and
absorbed the sanctity that
radiated from Reb Aryeh and
his Rebbetzin.

Shmuel
Aharon prayed each morning
at a minyan which began
before sunrise. It was there
that he met Reb Zissel
Chavez, an elderly talmid
chacham who was a
disciple of Rav Simcha
Zissel of Kelm, a noted sage
of “Mussar” – Torah
teachings related to ethics
and character refinement.
Reb Zissel and his wife had
not been blessed with
children; thus, when Reb
Zissel discovered that
Shmuel Aharon was a
fatherless child, he
approached Reb Aryeh and
suggested that the young
prodigy join him and his
wife each afternoon for
lunch. “We will adopt him as
our own child,” said Reb
Zissel.

It was
difficult for Reb Aryeh to
agree to such a plan, for
both he and wife felt that
it was a privilege to have
Shmuel Aharon regularly join
them at their table. “What
can I say?” said Reb Aryeh
after a long silence. “I
realize that it is forbidden
for me to think only of
myself. In my house, he is
just another one of the
children, but in your house
he will be treated as an
only son.”

“So are
you willing?” asked Reb
Zissel. Reb Aryeh smiled and
said that he would agree on
two conditions: The first
condition is that Shmuel
Aharon would be served a
nutritious daily meal with
meat, so that he would have
added strength. The second
condition is that Shmuel
Aharon himself would agree
to the plan.

Reb Aryeh
presented the idea to Shmuel
Aharon in a sensitive
manner. He suggested that
Shmuel Aharon eat lunch at
the home of this elderly
couple for one week, and
after that trial period it
will be up to him to decide
if he would like to
continue. The boy agreed,
and the elderly couple
treated him royally. After
the week was up, Shmuel
Aharon asked Rav Aryeh if he
could once again join him
for lunch, and he mentioned
that he had told Reb Zissel
and his wife that he would
not be coming that
afternoon.

Reb Aryeh
understood that he wanted to
return, and he asked him
whether he liked the food
that they served. “It was
delicious, but in a certain
sense it was not enough,”
replied Shmuel Aharon. And
he added:

“For
years I had always thought
that if only I had plenty to
eat, I would be happy. But
now I view the world in a
different light. I miss the
warm atmosphere of the Rav’s
home. Will the Rav allow me
to return home – to return
to my family?”

Reb Aryeh
and Shmuel Aharon walked
home together.

Although
Shmuel Aharon no longer went
to Reb Zissel and his wife
for the main meal each day,
he did recite Kaddish
for them after they later
passed away, and he honored
their yahrtzeits
every year, just as he did
for his own parents. He
remembered that he had spent
an entire week eating in
their home, and due to his
Torah wisdom, he had a very
deep understanding of the
importance of gratitude.

To be
continued.

Shalom,

Yosef Ben
Shlomo Hakohen (See below)

P.S. The
above information is found
in the book, “In Every
Generation” – The Life and
Legacy of the Gaon and
Tzaddik, Rav Shmuel Aharon
Yudelevitch. The author is
Dovid Yudelevitch, a son of
Rav Shmuel Aharon.

The
opening section of this book
tells the amazing story of
the journey of Rav Shmuel
Aharon’s grandfather, who at
age ten, together with his
two younger brothers, set
out on a journey from
Ponevezh, Lithuania to
Jerusalem!